1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a sheet feeding apparatus which includes a sheet feed shaft having a drive roller wherein the shaft is driven by a motor to move a sheet through a U-shaped sheet passage.
2. Background Art
Various sheet feeding apparatuses of the above-mentioned type are known in the art, and one of them is schematically illustrated FIGS. 7 and 8 of the accompanying drawings.
Referring to FIG. 7, a conventional sheet feeding apparatus 100 includes a plurality of parallel sheet feeding shafts 111, 112 and 113, a single drive motor 120 located on one side of these shafts (on the left side in the illustration) for these shafts 111-113 and a speed reduction mechanism 130. The speed reduction mechanism 130 is supported between a drive shaft 121 extending outwardly from the drive motor 120 and free ends (leftmost ends in the illustration) of the shafts 111-113. The speed reduction mechanism 130 includes a plurality of gears 131, 132 and 133 mounted on the shafts 111-113 on the free ends thereof, respectively. Upon driving the drive motor 120, the drive shaft 121 is rotated and in turn the sheet feed shafts 111-113 are rotated via the speed reduction mechanism 130. As a result, drive rollers 141, 142 and 143 fixedly mounted on the shafts 111-113 rotate so that a sheet K (FIG. 8) is fed into a U-shaped sheet passage 140 toward a discharge end of the sheet passage.
In this conventional sheet feeding apparatus, however, the drive shaft 121 and the speed reduction mechanism 130 (or the three gears 131-133) are positioned outward of the shafts 111-113 in their axial directions as indicated by the double-arrow. Therefore, a space is required next to the shafts 111-113 for these elements. This enlarges the width of the apparatus. Accordingly, the width of the apparatus becomes much greater than the width of the sheet K.